1st September, 1992
Upon arriving at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, Violet was rather disappointed that she couldn't find her roommates in the crowd.
"I'm sure they're just waiting on the train for you," Her mother assured her, "You said the train is usually full? Perhaps they wanted to save you a compartment!"
"Yeah, you're probably right." Violet smiled, turning to hug her parents goodbye.
"Promise to write?" Her father asked, kissing Violet's head before letting her go.
"Promise!" The train horn sounded, "I've got to go. I love you!"
She rushed off, pushing her cart to the man who was loading the students' belongings onto the train. He smiled at her and began loading her items, nodding at her as she moved to take a small trunk, which contained a few books and her change of clothes.
The train was crowded. There were students milling around, trying to find empty compartments and their friends. She was nearly to the back of the train when she saw the girl with familiar rich brown skin and dark brown braids. She slipped into the compartment, waving at her friends who all smiled at her.
"Hi, Violet!" Aimee moved to the side of the bench seat, making space for Violet to sit.
"Hi! Have a good summer?"
Violet, Hannah, Caroline, and Aimee spent the next few hours discussing their summer holidays. Though they'd exchanged letters, it was easier to speak about the details of their adventures. After a while, Caroline excused herself to go find her other friends, including Susan Bones, a fellow Hufflepuff second-year.
During a lull in the conversation, there was a loud thump outside their compartment. The girls shared a confused look before Violet stood up, sliding the door open. A young girl was laying on floor, slowly moving from her stomach to sit up.
"You okay?" Violet asked and the girl looked up at her.
"Mind your own, mudblood!" Someone hissed. She leaned around the doorframe to look at the boy. None other than Draco Malfoy was glaring at her.
She ignored him and his disgusting insult, turning back to the girl. She had to be a first-year, judging by the plain robes she was wearing. She briefly wondered if the girl and Draco were related-- they certainly looked like they could be. The girl was pale, with long wavy blonde hair and bright grey eyes.
"You okay?" Violet repeated, reaching out a hand to the girl. The girl stared at her with wide, distracted eyes, glancing between her and Draco, "I'm Violet. Don't worry about him."
Violet looked at Draco with a scowl, "Off you go, Malfoy."
Surprisingly, the boy took off, but not without huffing the whole way. Finally the girl on the floor took Violet's hand, standing up and righting her clothes.
"Luna Lovegood. Thank you. He wasn't very nice." Luna had a whimsical voice, though it sounded as distracted as her facial expression looked.
"No, Draco Malfoy is not very nice. Do you need somewhere to sit? My friends and I have an open seat." She stepped to the side, briefly glancing at her wide-eyed friends.
"That's okay, I was just on my way back to my own compartment. Thank you." She took off, a skip in her step as she made her way to the other end of the train cart.
When Violet had closed the door and returned to her own seat, she observed her friends' odd expressions.
"We haven't even reached the school, and you're already stirring up trouble with Malfoy?" Hannah asked, exasperated.
"I didn't do anything!" Violet argued, "I was trying to help that girl!"
"Still..." Aimee hesitated, "That was a nice thing you did for her, but can we agree to not interact with Malfoy this year?"
Violet shrugged, "I'd love nothing more. Speaking of..."
She then told her friends about the events of the previous day, including the run-in with the Malfoy's at Flourish and Botts. This, of course, only reaffirmed to her friends that they needed to stay far, far away from Draco.
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When the train was nearing Hogwarts, Violet had excused herself to the toilet while the other girls changed. She had already changed into her uniform; the black skirt, white dress shirt, black vest, and yellow and black striped tie a reminder that she was returning to Hogwarts, that it was all real and she hadn't imagined the previous year.
She often wondered to herself over the summer if she'd made the whole thing up. She didn't typically have a wild imagination, much less one that could create such a realistic story, but she supposed anything was possible. It was her friends' letters and her school things that reminded her that it wasn't all in her head, that Hogwarts and magic were real. The train and her uniform simply reaffirmed that fact.
On her way back to her compartment, she caught sight of a familiar Hufflepuff boy. The door to his compartment was open, so she leaned in to say hi.
Cedric Diggory was sat closest to her to the left, with two other Hufflepuff boys and a Ravenclaw girl filling the rest of the seats.
He looked up at her briefly, never once breaking conversation with his friends. Violet's raised hand dropped, as did her smile, at his dismissal. None of his friends even acknowledged her, which was just fine, as she didn't know them.
She took a step back, a stab of pain deep in her chest as someone she considered a close friend ignored her. She had thought that they were good friends, as they'd spent a good amount of time together the previous year.
Maybe he had just been faking it? She had only been a first-year, so maybe he'd pitied her and only pretended to be her friend? She had to blink away tears at the thought. Surely that wasn't it, right?
She didn't get the chance to turn and exit the compartment, wanting desperately to hide her disappointment, before someone from behind roughly shoved her forward with a muttered "Excuse me".
She couldn't stop the gasp that escaped as she fell forward, throwing her hands out to brace herself. Instead, she jolted sideways, a strong arm wrapped around her waist. She blinked several times, glancing between the arm around her waist and the boy whose lap she was currently sat on.
"You okay?" Cedric asked, wide-eyed as he looked over her. She hadn't even hit the ground, but she felt like she was going into shock.
"Hm? Oh, yes, I'm okay..." Her eyes stayed focused on his arm, which had tightened around her. As if finally realising it, Cedric pulled his arm away, his hand hovering over her hip until she stood up.
"Vi?" His face scrunched together in concern, but she just waved a hand.
"Um, thanks. I'll just... go..." She fumbled over her words, rushing out of the compartment as Cedric called after her.
When she finally reached the safety of her compartment, she slammed the door and dropped into her seat. Aimee and Hannah stared at her, mid-conversation. She held up a single finger, slowing her breathing until she no longer felt like an anvil was on her chest.
"Sorry, I'm okay."
"You sure?" Hannah asked, turning to face her fully, "You look spooked."
"Well, I saw Cedric, so I thought I'd say hi... But he ignored me. No hi, no wave, nothing. And when I tried to leave, someone shoved me, and I fell, but he caught me!"
Aimee stared in awe, "Caught you?"
"Yeah! I was sat on his lap!" Now that the shock had worn off, Violet felt a rush of embarrassment heat her cheeks, "Then he asked if I was okay, like he hadn't just saved me from making a total fool of myself!"
Aimee and Hannah shared a curious look, bursting into giggles.
"It's not funny!" Violet cried, covering her scarlet face with her hands.
"We're sorry, Violet." Aimee moved to sit beside Violet, hugging her with one arm, "It's such a boy thing for him to do."
Violet slowly dropped her hands, "What do you mean?"
"Boys!" Hannah groaned, "They like to play dumb, or tease you. But they don't understand that girls don't like that. We don't want to be ignored, but they want to seem cool around their friends, so they can't let their emotions show. See?"
Violet shook her head, "Not really. How does acting dumb make them seem cool?"
"You're right, it doesn't make sense." Aimee agreed, "Which is why he became your knight in shining armour!"
Violet huffed, "I wouldn't have fallen if I weren't in such a rush."
Hannah raised an eyebrow, "I thought you said someone shoved you?"
"They did! But I wouldn't have backed into them if I weren't in a rush to escape. He could've just said hi and i'd have left him alone."
In the span of ten minutes, Violet had gone through so many emotions, her head was spinning. First the disappointment of being ignored, then shock of being shoved and caught, then embarrassment of having sat in Cedric Diggory's lap!
"Are you finally ready to admit you fancy him?" Hannah questioned, sharing a cheeky smirk with Aimee.
"I don't fancy him!" Violet groaned, leaning back into her seat.
And she wasn't lying, she still had no romantic interest in Cedric, but that didn't change the embarrassment of the entire encounter. To be pulled into a boy's lap, whether he was saving her from hitting the floor or not, was a rather personal thing to experience. Especially when it was in front of his friends, people she didn't know.
"Well, he sure does-" Hannah began, only to be silenced with a look from Violet, "Right, changing the subject. Have you heard about our new D.A.D.A professor?"
And thus the next hour was spent listening to Hannah gush about Gilderoy Lockhart. Violet genuinely couldn't understand why so many girls fancied him. Even having attempted to read his autobiography, she found him to be egotistical, borderline annoying.
It would prove to be a very, very long year with him as a professor.